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Following is a question by the Dr Hon Kenneth Chan and a written reply by the Secretary for Education, Mr Eddie Ng Hak-kim, in the Legislative Council today (November 26):
Question:
In recent years, tertiary institutions funded by the University Grants Committee (funded institutions) have admitted quite a number of non-local students to their sub-degree, undergraduate and postgraduate programmes (programmes offered by funded institutions). Regarding the pursuit of studies by those students in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows, in each of the past three academic years, the number of non-local students studying in programmes offered by funded institutions, with a breakdown by institution, programme category and the place of origin of the students;
(2) whether it knows, in each of the past three academic years, the number of cases in which non-local students were found to have used false or forged academic qualifications to apply for admission to programmes offered by funded institutions, and the follow-up actions taken by the Government and the institutions concerned, and set out the information by institution;
(3) whether it knows, in each of the past three academic years, the number of cases in which non-local students studying in programmes offered by funded institutions sought assistance from the institutions concerned as they were unable to adjust to the campus life in Hong Kong, and the follow-up actions taken by the institutions concerned, and set out the information by institution and nature of the cases;
(4) whether it knows the measures currently taken by various institutions and the Government to help non-local students adjust to the learning environment in Hong Kong, and whether they have plans to review such measures in the near future; if they do, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(5) whether it has plans to adjust the policy on funded institutions' admission of non-local students to their sub-degree and undergraduate programmes; if it does, of the details; and
(6) whether it has plans to lower the upper limit of the proportion of non-local students being admitted to programmes offered by funded institutions, so as to avoid the situation of individual programmes admitting an excessively high proportion of non-local students, thereby reducing the prospects of local students being admitted to such programmes; if it does, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
Response to the questions is set out below:
(1) The number of non-local student enrolment of University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded programmes by institution, level of study and place of origin from the 2011/12 to 2013/14 academic year is tabulated in the Annex.
(2) The number of non-local students found to have furnished false academic qualifications or falsified academic records in support of their applications for admission to UGC-funded programmes from the 2011/12 to 2013/14 academic year is tabulated below:
Academic Institution Level Number
Year of Study of case
-------- ----------- -------- -------
2011/12 CityU Research 1
Postgraduate
2012/13 PolyU Undergraduate 1
2013/14 CityU Research 3
Postgraduate
2013/14 CUHK Research 1
Postgraduate
All the above cases involve students who were found to have furnished false academic qualifications or falsified academic records during the processing of the applications concerned. The applications were disqualified and the admission offers were withdrawn in cases where admission offers had been made.
(3) The number of cases of non-local students seeking assistance and support services from institutions from the 2011/12 to 2013/14 academic year is tabulated below:
Academic Year 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14
Institution
----------- ------- ------- -------
CityU 71 140 114
HKBU 38 36 39
LU 13 25 20
CUHK 14 17 29
HKIEd 4 3 2
PolyU 157 190 200
HKUST 15 21 50
HKU 106 133 136
Non-local students seek assistance and support services from institutions in different areas, including academic, career development, social, financial and personal issues. Each institution has its own established counselling and support service mechanism. In general, the institutions would render assistance and support service having regard to the nature and severity of the case. In the cases set out above, the students were provided with appropriate support services, including personal and psychological counselling, individual mentoring, academic advice and assistance, career development advice, financial assistance, etc. by staff from the relevant units of institutions such as academic, student affairs, finance and accommodation/hall management units.
(4) The Government and institutions are committed to assisting non-local students in adapting to the local environment and study life by various measures and support services.
At the institutional level, various measures, activities and support services have been adopted and provided to help non-local students adapt and integrate into a new living and learning environment. A range of diversified services and activities are offered to non-local students throughout the year, including orientation and familiarisation programmes, language enhancement programmes, needs surveys, cultural exchange and social events and gatherings, adjustment support, advice and counselling services, community services, mentoring and peer support schemes, academic and career advice, etc.
At the Government and UGC level, recognising the importance of internationalisation, the UGC implemented a Matching Grant Scheme for Internationalisation from 2005/06 to the end of 2014 to provide a total of $90 million to the UGC-funded institutions on a $1-to-$1 matching basis. The funds have been used to support various internationalisation initiatives, including initiatives to help non-local students integrate with local ones. Thereafter, the UGC completed strategic dialogues with institutions in 2012 with a view to developing a mutual understanding with institutions and common objectives in the area of internationalisation and engagement with the Mainland. Drawing on the discussions at the strategic dialogues, the UGC, the Education Bureau and the institutions have together put forth a funding of $4 million in the 2013/14 and 2014/15 academic years to facilitate integration of local and non-local students through student-initiated projects that encourage multi-cultural integration. It is believed that this bottom-up approach initiated by students within campus would be effective in achieving multi-cultural integration and helping non-local students adapt to both local and campus life.
The above measures and services are considered generally effective in supporting and facilitating integration of non-local students. Nevertheless, institutions would continue to monitor the effectiveness of their support services for non-local students and, for the new initiatives put forward, collect feedback from students and staff who help in the endeavours for regular evaluation, review, planning and enhancement of services.
(5) and (6) Under the existing policy of the Government, UGC-funded institutions may admit non-local students to their sub-degree and degree programmes up to a level not exceeding 20 per cent of the approved UGC-funded student number of these programmes. As non-local students are primarily admitted through over-enrolment beyond the approved student number targets and institutions will process applications for admission from non-local students independently of those applications from local students, it would not constitute direct competition with local students. Admission of non-local students will help diversify the local higher education sector and enhance the competitiveness of our students and Hong Kong. A multi-cultural learning environment, with students coming from other countries/regions, will help enhance cultural exchanges, broaden the horizons of the local students and help ensure that our graduates are globally competitive and able to study and work in a multi-cultural environment. A 20 per cent quota of the approved student number for admission of non-local students is comparable with international benchmarks of countries or regions with good-quality universities. Currently we do not have plan to adjust the concerned ratio.
Ends/Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Issued at HKT 15:13
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